Varnish Clean up (3MZ-FE under valve cover pic)

[tired]

Nobody wants you to bare anything, trust me.

I think this joke went under the radar.

 

[ClutchDisc]

Apologies! I mistakenly posted the loaded filter video, not the engine photos. I thought he included the before and after photos of the engine in that video, too, but you're correct, it was just the loaded up filter.

Here are some photos.



Here's the video I meant to post.

To me, the stuff in the filler hole in the video looks more like carbon - not varnish. That would probably explain all the carbon in the filter.

That being said interestingly enough I have thick carbon (or whatever that is) in the oil filler neck on my Sienna. With 30k (six 5k OCIs) of Valvoline Restore and Protect it didn’t touch mine. Not even a little bit.

Either way not disputing if it can clean carbon or varnish. Just whether or not it can remove all carbon. I don’t think anyone has run it enough to know that yet. And then of course there are different degrees of how much varnish, how long it has been there, etc. Like Buster said, some of that can be on pretty well especially if it has been there a while.

 

[4wd]

It's pretty baffling, isn't it? You'd think all the lab photos, lab videos etc. would be sufficient. Some have an axe to grind, some are in denial for unknown reason and some are just dumb.

What’s more baffling is the cost of troll food going up …
Some just need to be put on a diet

 

[EllieMae94]

Castrol dye. Replace valve cover. Delete pictures. Sleep restfully.

Castrol dye?

 

[CleanSump]

Castrol dye?

Reddish or Goldish varnish Castrol synthetic leaves on metal after repeated use. Some call it Castrol Red or Castrol Gold.

 

[webfors]

I always get a giggle when I haven't been here in a while and when I come back it's still the same old oil debate lol.

In Canada, the body, suspension, everything else will fall apart before the engine, and that's running any oil.

 

[D1dad]

There doesn't appear to be any sludge that could break loose, which is the main concern while cleaning. I'd run Valvoline Restore and Protect for at least 5k. The varnish is most likely the cheap dealer oil. My oldest car looked like it just came from a machine shop @85K using Valvoline

 

[EllieMae94]

Reddish or Goldish varnish Castrol synthetic leaves on metal after repeated use. Some call it Castrol Red or Castrol Gold.

It’s a joke right? What about Scott’s 250k Honda where he used Castrol exclusively from brand new? @slo town

Thread 'Valvoline Restore and Protect Honda K24, 250k miles, report on progress'

Mar 24, 2025

Y'all:

250k mile Honda K24 oil filler hole cleaning progress after using Valvoline Restore and Protect

I started this thread because it shows how the oil filler hole cleaned up on our 250k mile old 2010 Honda Element SC.

We bought the Element new and it's been meticulously maintained with a lifetime of Castrol Black Bottle 5W-20 for its first 75k miles, then Castrol BB 5w30 for the next 75K miles before finally settling on "German Castrol" 0w30 for the last 100k miles. Always 5k OCIs with a new filter.

The upper end of the engine looked very clean. That said, there's this thin aluminum...

• slo town
• Replies: 53
• Forum: Passenger Car Motor Oil (PCMO) - Gasoline Vehicles

• 
• 
• 

 

[slo town]

It’s a joke right? What about Scott’s 250k Honda where he used Castrol exclusively from brand new? @slo town

Thread 'Valvoline Restore and Protect Honda K24, 250k miles, report on progress'

Mar 24, 2025

Y'all:

250k mile Honda K24 oil filler hole cleaning progress after using Valvoline Restore and Protect

I started this thread because it shows how the oil filler hole cleaned up on our 250k mile old 2010 Honda Element SC.

We bought the Element new and it's been meticulously maintained with a lifetime of Castrol Black Bottle 5W-20 for its first 75k miles, then Castrol BB 5w30 for the next 75K miles before finally settling on "German Castrol" 0w30 for the last 100k miles. Always 5k OCIs with a new filter.

The upper end of the engine looked very clean. That said, there's this thin aluminum...

• slo town
• Replies: 53
• Forum: Passenger Car Motor Oil (PCMO) - Gasoline Vehicles

• 
• 
• 

Also how about this. Here the valve train of our 2011 BMW E90 328i N51 at 110K miles. I was replacing the cam cover and gasket. This car had a life of Euro Castrol 0W-30. 5K OCIs.

Scott

 

[tired]

It’s a joke right? What about Scott’s 250k Honda where he used Castrol exclusively from brand new? @slo town

Thread 'Valvoline Restore and Protect Honda K24, 250k miles, report on progress'

Mar 24, 2025

Y'all:

250k mile Honda K24 oil filler hole cleaning progress after using Valvoline Restore and Protect

I started this thread because it shows how the oil filler hole cleaned up on our 250k mile old 2010 Honda Element SC.

We bought the Element new and it's been meticulously maintained with a lifetime of Castrol Black Bottle 5W-20 for its first 75k miles, then Castrol BB 5w30 for the next 75K miles before finally settling on "German Castrol" 0w30 for the last 100k miles. Always 5k OCIs with a new filter.

The upper end of the engine looked very clean. That said, there's this thin aluminum...

• slo town
• Replies: 53
• Forum: Passenger Car Motor Oil (PCMO) - Gasoline Vehicles

• 
• 
• 

It's definitely not a joke. I think people consider it mostly harmless.

The higher end Castrol Euro Edge 0W-30 oil that Scott used doesn't seem to cause this.

https://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/threads/engine-oil-varnish.66453/

You can poke around the internet or endless examples.

 

[mkiv808]

Keep running Valvoline Restore and Protect.

Nothing wrong with that appearance.

 

[CleanSump]

It’s a joke right? What about Scott’s 250k Honda where he used Castrol exclusively from brand new? @slo town

Thread 'Valvoline Restore and Protect Honda K24, 250k miles, report on progress'

Mar 24, 2025

Y'all:

250k mile Honda K24 oil filler hole cleaning progress after using Valvoline Restore and Protect

I started this thread because it shows how the oil filler hole cleaned up on our 250k mile old 2010 Honda Element SC.

We bought the Element new and it's been meticulously maintained with a lifetime of Castrol Black Bottle 5W-20 for its first 75k miles, then Castrol BB 5w30 for the next 75K miles before finally settling on "German Castrol" 0w30 for the last 100k miles. Always 5k OCIs with a new filter.

The upper end of the engine looked very clean. That said, there's this thin aluminum...

• slo town
• Replies: 53
• Forum: Passenger Car Motor Oil (PCMO) - Gasoline Vehicles

• 
• 
• 

Not a joke. It's common to BMW owners that used Castrol Euro or Castrol supplied BMW labeled 5W-30 or 5W-40.
It doesn't seem to hurt anything. Just something to know if you're buying a used BMW, the gold doesn't mean sludge or not cared for.

 

[D1dad]

I know that varnish doesn’t hurt anything. But, I’d be shocked and question my oil choices if I saw it when I popped a valve cover. We changed gaskets on my nephews Jetta which was a work car for him, he paid $1k for it. It ran well but used about a qt every 3k yet was full of sludge. Less than year later the transmission failed but was still running well when he took it to the scrap yard. Motors tend to be resilient if not head scratchers at times.

 

[chazthespaz]

No sludge. You're doing good. Keep it up : )